This invention relates to an improved resource recovery utility. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved resource recovery utility based upon an enclosed sanitary landfill.
Many muncipalities use sanitary landfills as a means of waste disposal. In most localities, however, the volume of refuse is exceeding the availability of disposal sites necessitating the use of sites which are located at points quite distant from the municipality, resulting in substantially increased costs in transporting and handling the refuse.
Both state and local governmental agencies have imposed severe restrictions on sanitary landfill operations due to the noxious odors, rodents and potential damage due to the accumulation of gases, such as methane, usually associated therewith. In addition to these factors, the size and volume of landfills is restricted in an effort to control the leachate emanating therefrom and thereby reduce potential pollution of nearby water sources and habitable areas through ground water discharge. As a result, once a landfill is "filled", it is either sealed in some relatively impervious fashion (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,641) or is reclaimed into parks or other recreational areas (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,705,851).